Audubon Trail

6.15.11   Nance Jo, McBob, George and Earl  What a nice hike.  Even though it was thundering around us, we remained completely dry.  This was a two way trip.  On the way up Audubon Mtn, we encountered quite a few trees down blocking the path.  As you can see in the photos, we spent some time clearing the smaller trees and branches.  This allowed us to catch our breath as this part of the trail would be considered moderate.  We did see Mr. Box Turtle.  It seems that we often see box turtles near the bottom of the trail and this time was no exception.  When we reached the top of the trail we had lunch on the Audubon platform and enjoyed the shade and view.  On the way back down we did some trimming and enjoyed the scenery.  The distance was 5.1 miles and I would rate the hike as moderate.  For a few pictures click on the Audubon tab above or click here. 

Trail Clean Up

6.11.11  Nance Jo, Lora, Cat, Bob and Earl  It seems that no matter how well the trail is cleaned, it always looks like it could have a little more work.  That's kind of what happened on Sat.  We hiked along cleaning what had already been cleaned.  We probably would have been better off leaving it alone and proceeding to the really bad areas.  We ran into a nasty tree down situation, but thanks to Lora and Nance Jo, it was cleaned up very nicely while the rest of us went on to continue cleaning the trail.  We had a nice day until the rains came which quickly soaked us.  Still we go a lot done and had a nice hike of about 4 miles.  See a couple of pictures click the Deep Creek tab above or click here.

National Trails Day

6.4.11  First of all, I have to give special thanks to Nance Jo.  She arrived with a trailer load of equipment that allowed us to have a great day that proceeded without a hitch.  Without her organization, the day would have been a bust.  We had an attendance in excess of 20 people with numerous hikes being made down to Rock Creek.  The day was perfect for swimming and quite a few people were taking advantage of it.  We had a delightful cookout with more than enough hot dogs and hamburgers with all of the trimmings.  To see a few pictures of the gathering click on the National Trails Day tab above or click here.

Fall Creek Falls, Gilbert Gaul Loop

5.14.11  Nance Jo, Earl  The day started out rainy and foggy, but by the time we reached the trailhead the rain had stopped.  The trailhead was a little hard for us to find, but once on the trail, it was easy to follow.  The flowers were in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous.  The trail followed along the Fall Creek Falls Lake.  Besides the flowers, we saw some fisherman, dragonflies that posed for pictures, fisherman and trees that had been cut down by beavers.  We had lunch at a shelter overlooking the lake.  At the end of the hike we saw several deer.  The hike was capped off by hand dipped cones from the General Store.  I would rate the trail as easy and it was about 4.5miles long.  For pictures click on the Fall Creek Falls tab above or here.

Booker T. Washington SP

5.11.11 Nance Jo, Bob, Earl  This was another beautiful hike.  The weather was quite warm and humid, but if you had water it was fine.  This SP is not large, but the trail meanders all through the park giving you a good hike.  Since it is also a bicycle trail, there are many small side trails that make it easy to get off the main trail.  However, if you stay on the well used portion, you shouldn't get too lost.  We saw low flying airplanes, a couple of bicyclists, fisherman, frogs, flowers, turtles, ducks and a snake.  There were lots of trees down, and we ran into a man with a broken chainsaw that we helped to make a temporary fix.  He was trying to clear the few remaining spots on the trail covered with trees.  Our distance for the day was 6.8 miles and I would rate this trail as easy.  For a few pictures, click on the Booker T. tab or click here.